8 Corporate Video Ideas for the 2017 Holiday Season

It’s a good thing you’ve been making arrangements for the holiday season, which will be here before… wait. You haven’t made any plans? You haven’t considered what your company will do to demonstrate its holiday spirit to its customers, vendors, investors, and/or partners?

Here’s an idea that’s more original than greeting cards and less calorie-laden than holiday treats: create an outstanding holiday video.

Benefits of a Holiday Video

Creating and sending out a holiday video boasts several advantages, such as:

It lets you engage your customers without trying to sell them anything. They’ll appreciate your message of gratitude and holiday cheer without having to listen to a sales pitch.

It shows your non-business side. You and your colleagues are people, too, so you can take the opportunity to let your vendors and partners get to know you a little better.

It’s good public relations. You’re much more likely to be remembered for your holiday video than for a generic Christmas card signed by everyone in the office.

It will build morale in your workplace. The video production process will get employees working together toward a common goal, and it will get them in the holiday spirit.

It could get shared. If your video is good, expect recipients to forward it to their friends and family members with a note that says, “Check out this cool holiday video I got today!” (And you could start the new year with a few extra leads!)

Types of Holiday Videos

There are many different approaches you can take when thinking about your holiday corporate video. Here are eight of the most common ones:

1. The simple “Thank You” video. In its most basic form, this video features several company executives, managers, and/or employees speaking directly to the camera and expressing their gratitude to the viewers for their patronage. Use your creativity to build on this idea and tailor it to your company’s brand. (It might also be appropriate to acknowledge the difficulties and tragedies which characterized 2017 and to extend heartfelt sentiments to those who have suffered this past year.)

2. The employee-sharing video. Instead of having your colleagues simply thank everyone, let them each recount a holiday-related story or message on camera. Examples include discussing their favorite holiday traditions, their most memorable holiday seasons, or even the best gift they ever received. This helps viewers bond with the people of your company over shared holiday memories or feelings.

3. The holiday party video. No, this isn’t just bringing a camera to your office holiday party. Instead, take a lighthearted or tongue-in-cheek approach in your portrayal of what your company’s yuletide soiree might be like. Goofy dancing, off-key caroling, and even slightly inappropriate behavior are common themes in these types of videos. Since almost every company has some type of similar gathering, viewers will likely identify with this topic.

4. The office tradition video. This video chronicles employees engaging in one or more (real or imagined) holiday traditions in the workplace. Whether it’s decorating a tree, wrapping gifts for a charitable organization, or something more unorthodox or silly, it will show your colleagues letting their hair down and working together to make the holidays happier and brighter.

5. The volunteer effort video. Many companies choose to volunteer for a charity or help those less fortunate during the holidays, which is laudable. But making a video which highlights these efforts can be more complex than you might think. For starters, the people you are helping might not want to be on-camera; plus, the logistics of filming these events can be challenging (getting the right lighting, adequate sound, etc.). So be sure to think carefully about whether such a video is feasible.

6. The year-in-review video. Other businesses use their holiday video as an opportunity to look back at the milestones and newsworthy events of the previous year. This type of video lends itself well to almost any video production style, but the better-quality ones have a single thing in common: they provide something more than just company executives talking on-camera about how great their company was. Here’s a tip: try to incorporate one or more stories into these types of videos.

7. The animation video. And then there are the companies that are so busy in the fourth quarter that they don’t have time to set aside to shoot a holiday video (or perhaps the bulk of their employees are off-site or virtual). There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing the holiday video to a production company who can plan and create a visually-attractive animation video with a heartfelt holiday message.

8. The “get crazy” video. Finally, some employees like to unleash their creativity when it comes time to make the holiday video. In this case, the sky’s the limit on what you can make. Lip-synched music video imitations, pop culture-themed arrangements, simulated outtake scenes, and CG/graphics-heavy productions are staples in this category. Just be sure you have the resources and capabilities to pull off what you conjure up in your mind’s eye.

Holiday Video Tips

Whatever direction you decide to go, here are a few suggestions to keep in mind when creating and distributing your holiday corporate video:

Know your audience. Some customers and vendors might appreciate quirky, political, or ribald humor. Others may not. So always err on the side of caution.

Consider a lighthearted tone. It’s possible to make a good serious and emotion-grabbing holiday video, but it’s really easy to miss the mark, too.

Shorter is better. 60 – 90 seconds is ideal. If it goes longer, make sure that it keeps the viewer’s interest.

Make a landing page for your video. Dedicating a page on your site for your holiday video allows you (and your customers) to link to it and share it easily.

Choose a good thumbnail image. When distributing your video by e-mail, choose an eye-catching thumbnail image to include with it that will encourage recipients to view it.

Make your call-to-action simple. Here it is: view the video. Don’t dilute the e-mail with other offers, promotions, or CTAs.

Promote it on social media. That’s where it’s most likely to be shared.

Don’t be promotional. This is the most important rule. Holiday videos are to be fun and heartwarming. Including something salesy turns viewers off.

Don’t Put It Off!

Finally, if you’re thinking about creating a holiday corporate video, you should start planning it right away. Not only do these videos take time to brainstorm, design, shoot, and edit, but the top video production crews are likely to be already booked if you wait until the last minute. So gather your “creative” team together, come up with an idea, and reach out to a professional video company ASAP. That way, you can spend most of December reveling in the accolades of those who have viewed your unique, uplifting, and/or hilarious holiday corporate video!

Need some professional help with your holiday video? Contact us today!

About Andrea Keating

Andrea Keating introduced the industry to the concept of a freelance film and video staffing company in 1988. And since then, “It’s been an incredible experience made all the better by great clients, fabulously talented crews and the best team on Earth working right along with me.” At Crews Control, Andrea is constantly thinking about how to serve her clients better. That’s her number one objective. As for her other, more whimsical goals, she’d like to invent an everyday product, go to cooking school, and finally learn how to whistle.

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